'Star Wars' Actor Returns to Social Media 6 Years After Deleting Instagram

By Daniel S. Levine

Star Wars star Daisy Ridley is back on social media, six years after she deleted her Instagram page. Ridley withdrew from Instagram in August 2016 after she faced backlash for showing support for gun violence victims. Ridley is best known for playing Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy and recently cameoed in Judd Apatow's new Netflix movie The Bubble. Ridley's return to social media was met with a celebration from her fans.

Ridley, 29, published a photo of herself wearing a bathrobe and sipping tea. "Coming out of social media hibernation refreshed, recharged, and ready for what I'm calling my 'Year of Yes.' (And that's the tea)," Ridley wrote. She also tagged stylists Kelly Cornwall and Dayaruci.

On Tuesday, Ridley shared photos from an app that put her inside famous paintings. "Trying to remember how to use this app," Ridley wrote. "Maybe it's a good thing I didn't have Insta during quarantine, or else I would have posted these. Oh, well, still posting them."

Ridley quit social media in August 2016 after she posted a message on Facebook and Instagram about the Teen Choice Awards' tribute to gun violence victims. "[As] I sat in the audience yesterday, tears were streaming down my face at the tribute to those that have been lost to gun violence," she wrote. "I didn't get a great picture of the incredible group that came on stage, but they were so brave. It was a true moment of togetherness. We must #stoptheviolence."

'Coming out of social media hibernation'

Ridley then deleted her Instagram and Facebook pages, only to return briefly to let her fans know what was happening. "I just want to be on my phone less," she wrote. "Trying to be more present and all that and got a busy few months ahead so wanted less distractions... It's all good!" She also thanked her fans for their support.

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'Trying to remember how to use this app'

In a 2017 interview with Glamour, Ridley said her decision to leave social media was not just about her response to her gun safety post. She was frustrated with people complaining about her body. "I have to come first because if I am not healthy – I was struggling with anxiety last year – if I'm not mentally healthy, or I'm depleted from sharing so much, I won't have anything left for when people approach me," she said in 2017.

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'She is... a work of art all by herself'

Ridley vowed to never return to social media during a 2019 stop on BuzzFeed News' AM to DM show. "I honestly think now with social media and stuff, it's great to have freedom of expression, but I do feel like people think opinions have so much weight," she said. "I don't really think bad vibes should have the sun shone on them. Like, I don't want to read your thing."

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'Sooooo happy that Daisy Ridley is back'

Ridley played Rey in Disney's Star Wars sequel trilogy movies, released between 2015 and 2019. She also starred in Chaos Walking, Ophelia, and Murder on the Orient Express. She stars in Neil Burger's The Marsh King's Daughter, which opens on May 19, and Rachel Lambert's Sometimes I Think About Dying.

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'So glad she's on Instagram again'

Ridley isn't the only Star Wars star who left social media as the sequel movies hit theaters. Kelly Marie Tran, who played Rose Tico in The Last Jedi, left after facing sexist and racist bullying. Her Star Wars experience felt like she "fell in love very publicly and then very publicly had an embarrassingly horrible breakup," the Raya and the Last Dragon star told The Hollywood Reporter.

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Even Chewbacca celebrated

Joonas Suotamo, who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars sequels, welcomed Ridley back to Instagram. "My co-pilot Daisy is back on Instagram," he wrote.

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